Vehicle and method of controlling the same

ABSTRACT

A vehicle is provided to analyze a signal received by a communicator and identify a first electronic device that transmits the received signal and a second electronic device that will transmit the received signal. The vehicle identifies a lighting algorithm that corresponds to an analysis result of the received signal and sequentially turns on a plurality of lighting devices based on the identified lighting algorithm.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0028803, filed on Mar. 9, 2020,the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates to a vehicle for controlling lighting andlights-out of a plurality of lighting devices, and a method ofcontrolling the vehicle.

BACKGROUND

A vehicle includes a plurality of outdoor lighting devices for viewingthe environment around the vehicle while gazing forward. The pluralityof outdoor lighting devices are used to perform a lighting function andalso a signal and communication function for other vehicles andpedestrians.

The vehicle further includes an indoor lighting device for lighting theinterior of the vehicle. Additionally, the vehicle includes a clusterthat displays driving functions such as a vehicle speed, an enginespeed, refueling amount, and cooling water and vehicle information. Thecluster is further equipped with brake warning lights, seatbelt warninglights, anti-lock brake system (ABS) warning lights, traction controlsystem (TCS) warning lights, and the indoor lighting device thatdisplays an operating state and a warning state of other in-vehicleaccessory systems.

The vehicle is provided with a center fascia and further includesoperation buttons of various devices such as an audio, an airconditioner, and an emergency light. The operation buttons of thevarious devices are equipped with the lighting device for visualrecognition of a user when driving at night or driving in a tunnel orparking lot. The various lighting devices provided in the vehicle areused as lighting and warning functions, and are turned on or off inresponse to external illumination, the operating state of the system,and user commands.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the disclosure is to provide a vehicle that visuallydisplays a task processing process through sequential lighting of aplurality of lighting devices, and a method of controlling the vehicle.Another aspect of the disclosure is to provide a vehicle that visuallydisplays whether data is transmitted or received through the lighting ofthe plurality of lighting devices, and a method of controlling thevehicle. Additional aspects of the disclosure will be set forth in partin the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a vehicle may include aplurality of lighting devices; a communicator configured to communicatewith an external electronic device and a plurality of internalelectronic devices; and a controller configured to analyze a signalreceived by the communicator and identify information regarding a firstelectronic device that has transmitted the received signal, and tosequentially control the lighting of the plurality of lighting devicesbased on the identified information regarding the first electronicdevice. The first electronic device that transmits the signal may beeither the external electronic device or the plurality of internalelectronic devices.

The controller may be configured to analyze the signal received by thecommunicator, to identify a second electronic device to transmit thesignal among the plurality of internal electronic devices, and tooperate the communicator to transmit the received signal to theidentified second electronic device. The second electronic device may bea device different from the first electronic device.

The vehicle may further include a storage configured to storeidentification information and position information of a referencelighting device among the plurality of lighting devices, to storeidentification information and position information of the remaininglighting devices, and to store identification information and positioninformation of the plurality of internal electronic devices. Whensequentially controlling the lighting of the plurality of lightingdevices, the controller may be configured to identify the positioninformation of the second electronic device, to identify the lightingdevices disposed between the second electronic device and the referencelighting device based on the identified position information of thesecond electronic device and the position information of the referencelighting device, and to control the sequential lighting of theidentified lighting devices.

The plurality of lighting devices may include a display apparatus. Theexternal electronic device may include at least one of a server, aninfrastructure, another vehicle, and a user terminal. The controller maybe configured to adjust at least one of a lighting color, a lightingspeed, a lighting brightness, and a lighting shape of the plurality oflighting devices based on an analysis result of the received signal. Inparticular, the controller may be configured to adjust a lighting speedof the plurality of lighting devices based on a signal processing speedof the received signal. The controller may be configured to controlsequential lighting of the plurality of lighting devices based on thepositions of two or more second electronic devices when there are thetwo or more second electronic devices that will transmit the receivedsignal.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a vehicle mayinclude a plurality of lighting devices provided inside a body; aplurality of electronic devices provided inside the body; a communicatorconfigured to communicate with an external device; and a controllerconfigured to sequentially control lighting of the plurality of lightingdevices in response to whether a signal is transmitted duringcommunication with the external device. The transmission of the signalmay include transmission of the signal from the external device to atleast one of the plurality of electronic devices, and transmission ofthe signal from any one of the plurality of electronic devices to theexternal device.

When transmitting the signal from the external device to the at leastone of the plurality of electronic devices, the controller may beconfigured to control lighting of a reference lighting device among theplurality of electronic devices, and to sequentially control lightingfrom a lighting device adjacent to the reference lighting device. Whentransmitting the signal from any one of the plurality of electronicdevices to the external device, the controller may be configured tocontrol lighting of the lighting device at a position farthest from areference lighting device among the plurality of electronic devicesfirst, and to control lighting of the reference lighting device last.The external device may include at least one of a server, aninfrastructure, another vehicle, and a user terminal.

The vehicle may further include a crash pad provided on an interior ofthe body and provided with a first lighting device among the pluralityof lighting devices; a cluster provided with a second lighting deviceamong the plurality of lighting devices; a steering wheel provided witha third lighting device among the plurality of lighting devices; and abackrest of a driver's seat provided with a fourth lighting device amongthe plurality of lighting devices.

The crash pad provided on the interior of the body may include aplurality of spaced apart lamps. The controller may be configured tooperate the plurality of lamps to be lit sequentially the plurality oflamps are in a first direction in response to determining that thesignal is transmitted from the external device to the at least oneelectronic device, and to operate the plurality of lamps to besequentially turned on in a second direction in response to determiningthat the signal is transmitted from the electronic device to theexternal device.

The controller may be configured to control the lighting of theplurality of lighting devices so that a lighting shape formed by theplurality of lighting devices becomes a first shape when the signalreceived by the communicator is a signal corresponding to start-up, andto control the lighting of the plurality of lighting devices so that thelighting shape formed by the plurality of lighting devices becomes asecond shape when the signal received by the communicator is a signalcorresponding to the content.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method ofcontrolling a vehicle may include analyzing a signal received by acommunicator to identify a first electronic device that transmits thereceived signal and a second electronic device that will transmit thereceived signal; transmitting the received signal to the secondelectronic device; identifying a lighting algorithm corresponding to ananalysis result of the received signal; and sequentially lighting aplurality of lighting devices based on the identified lightingalgorithm.

The method may further include displaying information corresponding tothe received signal through the second electronic device; identifying asignal corresponding to information received by a user input; executinga transmission of the identified signal; and sequentially lighting theplurality of lighting devices in response to the transmission of thesignal. The method may further include adjusting a lighting speed of theplurality of lighting devices based on a signal processing speed of thesignal received by the communicator.

Additionally, the method may include sequentially lighting the pluralityof lighting devices at a first speed when a start-on signal is received;and sequentially lighting the plurality of lighting devices at a secondspeed slower than the first speed when a start-off signal is received.The method may further include sequentially lighting the plurality oflighting devices when a start-on signal or a start-off signal isreceived, but turning on a next lighting device after the currently litlighting device is turned off; and sequentially lighting the pluralityof lighting devices when a content signal is received, but turning onthe next lighting device before the currently lit lighting device isturned off.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent andmore readily appreciated from the following description of the exemplaryembodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an interior of a vehicle according to anexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view of a lighting device provided in a vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are exemplary views of a lighting device provided on acrash pad in a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a control configuration diagram of a vehicle according to anexemplary embodiment.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, 6C, and 7 are exemplary views of lighting oflighting devices provided in a vehicle according to an exemplaryembodiment.

FIG. 8 is a control flowchart of a vehicle according to an exemplaryembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is understood that the term “vehicle” or “vehicular” or other similarterm as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such aspassenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles (SUV), buses,trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including a variety ofboats and ships, aircraft, and the like, and includes hybrid vehicles,electric vehicles, combustion, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles,hydrogen-powered vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles (e.g.fuels derived from resources other than petroleum).

Although exemplary embodiment is described as using a plurality of unitsto perform the exemplary process, it is understood that the exemplaryprocesses may also be performed by one or plurality of modules.Additionally, it is understood that the term controller/control unitrefers to a hardware device that includes a memory and a processor andis specifically programmed to execute the processes described herein.The memory is configured to store the modules and the processor isspecifically configured to execute said modules to perform one or moreprocesses which are described further below.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted items.

Unless specifically stated or obvious from context, as used herein, theterm “about” is understood as within a range of normal tolerance in theart, for example within 2 standard deviations of the mean. “About” canbe understood as within 10%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, 1%, 0.5%,0.1%, 0.05%, or 0.01% of the stated value. Unless otherwise clear fromthe context, all numerical values provided herein are modified by theterm “about.”

Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout thespecification. Not all elements of the exemplary embodiments of thedisclosure will be described, and the description of what are commonlyknown in the art or what overlap each other in the embodiments will beomitted. The terms as used throughout the specification, such as“˜part,” “˜module,” “˜member,” “˜block,” etc., may be implemented insoftware and/or hardware, and a plurality of “˜parts,” “˜modules,”“˜members,” or “˜blocks” may be implemented in a single element, or asingle “˜part,” “˜module,” “˜member,” or “˜block” may include aplurality of elements.

It will be further understood that the term “connect” and itsderivatives refer both to direct and indirect connection, and theindirect connection includes a connection over a wireless communicationnetwork. It will be further understood that the term “member” and itsderivatives refer both to when a member is in contact with anothermember and when another member exists between the two members. It willbe understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc., maybe used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layersand/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/orsections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only usedto distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section fromanother region, layer or section.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Reference numerals used for method steps are merely used for convenienceof explanation, but not to limit an order of the steps. Thus, unless thecontext clearly dictates otherwise, the written order may be practicedotherwise.

Hereinafter, an operation principle and exemplary embodiments of thedisclosure will be described with reference to accompanying drawings.FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an interior of a vehicle according to anexemplary embodiment, FIG. 2 is an exemplary view of a lighting deviceprovided in a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment, and FIGS. 3Aand 3B are exemplary views of a lighting device provided on a crash padin a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment.

A vehicle 1 may include a body with exterior and interior parts, andchassis on which mechanical devices required for driving are installed.The exterior part of the body may include a front bumper, a hood, a roofpanel, a rear bumper, a trunk on which luggage is loaded, front, rear,left, and right doors 101 (101 a and 101 b), and window glasses providedto be opened and closed on the front, rear, left, and right doors 101(101 a and 101 b).

The vehicle may include an external lighting device having a pluralityof lamps that makes it easy to see all information of the vehicle 1while looking in a driving direction. The external lighting device mayperform not only a lighting function, but also a signal andcommunication function for other vehicles and pedestrians. The pluralityof lamps forming the external lighting device may be arranged in pairson the left and right sides of the front and rear of the vehicle 1.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the interior part of the body may include aseat 102 (102 a and 102 b) on which a passenger sits, a crash pad 103for alleviating an impact in case of collisions with an obstacle for thesafety of a driver and an assistant driver, a cluster 104 (i.e., aninstrument panel) disposed on the crash pad 103 and guiding drivingfunctions such as a vehicle speed, an engine speed, refueling amount,and cooling water and vehicle information, a center fascia 105 providedwith a control panel of an air conditioner, and a head unit 106 providedin the center fascia 105 and operating an audio device, the airconditioner, a Bluetooth device, and a heating element of the seat 102.

The seat 102 may be a chair in which the passenger may sit, and mayinclude a driver's seat 102 a in which the driver sits, and a passengerseat 102 b provided next to the driver's seat and in which the passengersits. The seat 102 may be provided at the rear of the driver's seat andthe passenger seat, and may further include a rear seat in which thepassenger and sit. The crash pad 103 may be provided with a spacetherein to prevent separation of various devices after assembly of thevarious devices. In addition, an airbag may be accommodated in a spaceinside the crash pad.

The vehicle 1 may be provided around the driver's seat 102 a and thecluster 104 and may further include a steering wheel 107 that receivesthe driver's manipulation command for a driving direction, and a vehicleterminal 108 that is provided on the crash pad 103 and performs audio,video, and navigation functions. The vehicle terminal 108 may beimplemented by the display apparatus or may be implemented by a touchscreen. The cluster 104 may be provided in a size that corresponds tothe driver's seat 102 a or the steering wheel 107 inside the vehicle 1.

The vehicle 1 may further include a user interface that extends from thedriver's seat 102 a to the center fascia 105 and configured to receiveuser input and display an image. The user interface may be configured toperform the functions of the cluster 104 and the vehicle terminal 108,and also the functions of the head unit 106. The user interface may beimplemented by the display apparatus such as liquid crystal display(LCD) or organic light emitting diode (OLED), or may be implemented bythe touch screen.

When the cluster 104 is provided in the vehicle 1, the vehicle 1 mayinclude a lighting device 110 provided on at least one of the crash pad103, the cluster 104, the driver's seat 102 a, a door 101, the steeringwheel 107, and the vehicle terminal 108. In addition, the lightingdevice 110 provided in the crash pad 103 may be extended to the interiorof the door 101. When the vehicle 1 is provided with the user interface,the vehicle 1 may include the lighting device 110 provided on at leastone of the crash pad 103, the user interface, the driver's seat 102 a,the door 101, and the steering wheel 107. In addition, the vehicle 1 mayfurther include the lighting device 110 provided in a space between thedriver's seat 102 a and the rear seat.

As illustrated in FIG. 2 , the lighting device 110 may include a firstlighting device 111 provided on the crash pad 103, a second lightingdevice 112 provided on the cluster 104, a third lighting device 113provided on the steering wheel 107, and a fourth lighting device 114provided on a backrest of the driver's seat 102 a. More particularly,the first lighting device 111 provided in the crash pad 103 may beprovided on an edge of the crash pad 103, may be provided in a centralregion of the surface of the crash pad 103, and may be provided in anentire region of the crash pad 103. The first lighting device 111provided on the crash pad 103 may include the plurality of lampsprovided on the surface of the crash pad 103. The plurality of lamps maybe disposed at regular intervals on the surface of the crash pad 103.

As illustrated in FIG. 3A, a plurality of lamps 111 a, 111 b, 111 c, 111d, 111 e, and 111 f may be arranged at regular intervals on the surfaceof the crash pad 103. As illustrated in FIG. 3B, the plurality of lamps111 a, 111 b, 111 c, 111 d, 111 e, 111 f, 111 g, 111 h, 111 i, 111 j,111 k, and 111 l are respectively disposed on both sides of the surfaceof the crash pad 103, and may be disposed at regular intervals. Thesecond lighting device 112 provided in the cluster 104 may be a lamp fordisplaying the image displayed through the cluster 104. For example, thelamp of the cluster 104 may be a backlight unit of the cluster 104.

The third lighting device 113 provided on the steering wheel 107 may beprovided on the rim of the steering wheel 107 or may be provided on thecentral region of the steering wheel 107. The third lighting device 113provided on the steering wheel 107 may be a lamp for the image displayfunction of the display apparatus provided on the steering wheel 107.The fourth lighting device 114 provided on the backrest of the driver'sseat 102 a may be a lamp that performs a lighting function for thepassenger in the rear seat, or may be provided in a terminal configuredto perform the user interface function for the passenger in the rearseat.

In other words, the lamp provided in a passenger terminal is a lamp foran image display function of the passenger terminal, and may be, forexample, the backlight unit. Accordingly, the lighting device 110 may bethe lamp provided in the interior of the vehicle 1 for lighting orinterior, or may be the backlight unit provided in the display apparatusbut provided for image display.

The vehicle 1 may further include an inputter 120 provided on at leastone of the center fascia 105, the head unit 106, and the steering wheel107. The inputter 120 may be implemented as at least one of physicalbuttons, keys, switches, and levers. The inputter 120 may also beimplemented as a jog dial or a touch pad for inputting a movementcommand and a selection command of a cursor displayed on a vehicleterminal AVN.

FIG. 4 is a control configuration diagram of a vehicle according to anexemplary embodiment, which will be described with reference to FIGS.5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, 6C, and 7 . The vehicle 1 may include the plurality oflighting devices 110 (111, 112, 113, and 114), the inputter 120, acommunicator 130, a controller 140, a storage 141, and a driver 150, andfurther include a display apparatus 160. The plurality of lightingdevices 110 (111, 112, 113, and 114) may be provided inside the vehicle1 but may be disposed at different positions to perform the lightingfunction.

Some of the plurality of lighting devices 110 may be disposed on thedisplay apparatus 160. The lighting device 110 provided in the displayapparatus 160 may be the lamp provided for displaying the image, or maybe the lamp provided for visual design in the display apparatus 160. Theinputter 120 may be configured to receive the user input. The inputter120 may be configured to receive on/off commands of various functionsthat may be performed in the vehicle 1 as user inputs, and informationabout setting values for changing the operating state of the variousfunctions. Additionally, the inputter 120 may be configured to receivean on/off command of an interactive lighting mode, receive an on/offcommand of an outdoor lighting device, or receive an on/off command ofan indoor lighting device.

The interactive lighting mode may be a mode for controlling lighting ofthe plurality of lighting devices 110 provided in the vehicle 1 inresponse to transmission and reception of signals related to at leastone function performed in the vehicle 1. The inputter 120 may beconfigured to receive an operation command related to a functioncorresponding to a transmitted signal or a received signal whileperforming the interactive lighting mode. For example, when a signal fora request for providing position information is received from anothervehicle, the inputter 120 may be configured to receive “yes” or “no” asthe operation command for an information providing function.

The communicator 130 may be configured to communicate with externaldevices. In particular, the external devices may include at least one ofa server, an infrastructure, a user terminal, and other vehicles. Thecommunicator 130 may be configured to perform communication betweenvarious devices provided inside the vehicle 1. The various devicesprovided inside the vehicle 1 may include the head unit 106, theinputter 120, the display apparatus 160, and the plurality of lightingdevices 110 (111, 112, 113, and 114).

The communicator 130 may include one or more components that enablecommunication between external devices and internal components of thevehicle 1 and communication between internal components of the vehicle1, for example, at least one of a short-range communication module, awired communication module, and a wireless communication module. Theshort-range communication module may include various short-rangecommunication modules for transmitting and receiving signals within ashort range over a wireless communication network, such as a Bluetoothmodule, an infrared communication module, a radio frequencyidentification (RFID) communication module, a wireless local accessnetwork (WLAN) communication module, a near field communication (NFC)module, a Zigbee communication module, etc.

The wired communication module may include one of the various wiredcommunication modules, such as a controller area network (CAN)communication module, a local area network (LAN) module, a wide areanetwork (WAN) module, or a value added network (VAN) module, and alsoone of various cable communication modules, such as a universal serialbus (USB), a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), a digitalvisual interface (DVI), recommended standard (RS) 232, a power cable, ora plain old telephone service (POTS).

The wired communication module may further include a local interconnectnetwork (LIN) module. The wireless communication module may include awireless fidelity (WiFi) module, a wireless broadband (WiBro) module,and/or any wireless communication module for supporting various wirelesscommunication schemes, such as a global system for a mobilecommunication (GSM) module, a code division multiple access (CDMA)module, a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) module, auniversal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), a time divisionmultiple access (TDMA) module, a long-term evolution (LTE) module, andthe like.

The various lighting devices 110, the display apparatus 160, and thecontroller 140 provided in the vehicle 1 may be electrically andmechanically connected. The various lighting devices 110, the displayapparatus 160, and the controller 140 provided in the vehicle 1 may beconfigured to transmit and receive various information via thecommunicator 130 provided in the vehicle 1. When a signal is received bythe communicator 130, the controller 140 may be configured to analyzethe received signal, determine an electronic device (hereinafterreferred to as a first electronic device) that has transmitted thesignal based on the analysis result, determine the electronic device(hereinafter referred to as a second electronic device) to transmit thereceived signal, and transmit the signal received from the firstelectronic device to the second electronic device.

When analyzing the received signal, the controller 140 may be configuredto obtain information regarding a type of the signal, a functioncorresponding to the signal, and second electronic devices to transmitthe signal. In particular, the first electronic device may be anexternal electronic device or at least one of a plurality of internalelectronic devices. The second electronic device may be a differentdevice from the first electronic device, and may be the externalelectronic device or at least one of the plurality of internalelectronic devices.

For example, when the signal is received from the external electronicdevice, the controller 140 may be configured to analyze the receivedsignal, determine the internal electronic device to transmit thereceived signal based on the analysis result, and transmit the receivedsignal to the determined internal electronic device. The controller 140may be configured to identify a lighting algorithm corresponding to thereceived signal among the lighting algorithms stored in the storage 141based on the analysis result, and operate lighting of the plurality oflighting devices 110 based on the identified lighting algorithm.

For example, when the signal is received from the external electronicdevice, the controller 140 may be configured to control sequentiallighting of the plurality of lighting devices 110 based on the lightingalgorithm stored in the storage 141. In other words, the controller 140may be configured to control sequential lighting of the plurality oflighting devices 110 in response to reception of signals from theexternal electronic device.

As illustrated in FIG. 5A, when the first lighting device 111 having theplurality of lamps provided on the crash pad 103, the second lightingdevice 112 provided on the cluster 104, the third lighting device 113provided on the steering wheel 107, the fourth lighting device 114provided on the backrest of the driver's seat 102 a are provided in thevehicle 1, the controller 140 may be configured to operate the firstlighting device 111, the second lighting device 112, the third lightingdevice 113, and the fourth lighting device 114 to be sequentially turnedon when the signal is received from the external electronic device.

In particular, the second lighting device 112 provided in the cluster104 may be the backlight unit provided in the cluster 104, and the thirdlighting device 113 provided in the steering wheel 107 may be thebacklight unit of the display apparatus 160 provided in the steeringwheel 107, and the fourth lighting device 114 provided in the backrestof the driver's seat 102 a may be the passenger terminal provided on thebackrest of the driver's seat 102 a or the backlight unit of the displayapparatus 160, and may be the lamp for the passenger.

As another example, when the signal is received from the internalelectronic device, the controller 140 may be configured to controlsequential lighting of the plurality of lighting devices 110 based onthe lighting algorithm stored in the storage 141. In other words, whentransmitting signals from the internal electronic device to the externalelectronic device, the controller 140 may be configured to controlsequential lighting of the plurality of lighting devices in response tothe transmission of the signals.

As illustrated in FIG. 5B, the controller 140 may be configured tooperate the fourth lighting device 114, the third lighting device 113,the second lighting device 112, and the first lighting device 111 to besequentially turned on. When controlling the sequential lighting of aplurality of lighting devices 110, the controller 140 may be configuredto determine the lighting order of lighting devices 110 for lighting,and control the lighting of the lighting device 110 for a presetlighting maintenance time based on the determined lighting order, andcontrol the lighting of a next lighting device when the preset lightingmaintenance time has elapsed.

The controller 140 may be configured to identify the lighting devices110 provided between the first electronic device and the secondelectronic device based on the position information of the plurality ofelectronic devices and lighting devices 110 stored in the storage 141,and control sequential lighting the identified lighting devices 110. Atthis time, the controller 140 may be configured to cause the lightingdevice 110 adjacent to the first electronic device to light first, andthe lighting device 110 adjacent to the second electronic device tolight last.

The lighting devices 110 provided between the first electronic deviceand the second electronic device may be lighting devices located on astraight line when the first electronic device and the second electronicdevice are connected in a straight line. The controller 140 may beconfigured to identify the lighting devices 110 provided between areference lighting device and the second electronic device based on theposition information of the plurality of electronic devices and lightingdevices 110 stored in the storage 141, and control sequential lightingof the reference lighting device and the identified lighting device.

At this time, the controller 140 may be configured to cause thereference lighting device to light first, the lighting device providedat a position adjacent to the reference lighting device to light next,and the lighting device adjacent to the second electronic device tolight last. The lighting devices provided between the reference lightingdevice and the second electronic device may be lighting devices locatedon the straight line when the reference lighting device and the secondelectronic device are connected in the straight line.

When the reference lighting device is the first lighting device providedon the crash pad 103 and the second electronic device is the displayapparatus 160 provided on the steering wheel 107, as illustrated in FIG.6A, the controller 140 may be configured to operate the first lightingdevice 111, the second lighting device 112, and the third lightingdevice 113 to be sequentially lit when the signal is received from theexternal electronic device, and operate the display apparatus 160 sothat information corresponding to the signal received through thedisplay apparatus 160 provided on the steering wheel 107.

When the user input corresponding to the information displayed throughthe display apparatus 160 is received, the controller 140 may beconfigured to identify the second electronic device to transmit thesignal corresponding to the received user input, and transmit the signalcorresponding to the user input to the identified second electronicdevice. When the second electronic device is the external electronicdevice, as illustrated in FIG. 6B, the controller 140 may be configuredto sequentially turn on the third lighting device 113, the secondlighting device 112, and the first lighting device 111, and transmit thesignal corresponding to the user input is transmitted to the externalelectronic device.

When the reference lighting device is the first lighting device providedon the crash pad 103, and the second electronic device is the userinterface, as illustrated in FIG. 6C, when the signal is received fromthe external electronic device, the controller 140 may be configured tosequentially turn on the first lighting device 111 and the secondlighting device 112-1, and operate the user interface to displayinformation corresponding to the signal received through the userinterface. In particular, the second lighting device 112-1 may be thelamp provided in the user interface or the backlight unit provided inthe user interface.

The controller 140 may be configured to identify the lighting algorithmcorresponding to the type of signal among the lighting algorithms storedin the storage 141 and control the sequential lighting of the pluralityof lighting devices 110 based on the identified lighting algorithm. Forexample, in response to determining that the received signal is a signalfor content playback based on the analysis result, the controller 140may be configured to identify the electronic device to play the content,transmit the received signal to the identified electronic device,identify the lighting algorithm corresponding to content playback, andcontrol sequential lighting of the plurality of lighting devices 110based on the identified lighting algorithm. In response to determiningthat there are two second electronic devices to be transmitted thereceived signal based on the analysis result, the controller 140 may beconfigured to identify the lighting devices provided between each of thesecond electronic devices and the reference lighting device, and controlsequential lighting of the identified lighting devices.

As illustrated in FIG. 7 , when the signal received from the externalelectronic device needs to be transmitted to the passenger terminal(e.g., one second electronic device) and the vehicle terminal 108 (e.g.,another second electronic device) provided on the backrest of thedriver's seat 102 a, the controller 140 may be configured to identifythe lighting device provided between the reference lighting device andthe passenger terminal, control the sequential lighting of theidentified lighting devices, identify the lighting device providedbetween the reference lighting device and the vehicle terminal 108, andcontrol the sequential lighting of the identified lighting devices.

In other words, the controller 140 may be configured to control thesequential lighting of the first lighting device 111 as the referencelighting device, a fifth lighting device 115 and the fourth lightingdevice 114 provided in the door, and control the sequential lighting ofthe first lighting device 111 and a sixth lighting device 112 b. Thecontroller 140 may be configured to simultaneously perform thesequential lighting of the first lighting device 111, the fifth lightingdevice 115, and the fourth lighting device 114, and the sequentiallighting of the first lighting device 111 and the sixth lighting device112 b at the same time. Additionally, the controller 140 may beconfigured to perform sequential lighting of the first lighting device111, the fifth lighting device 115, and the fourth lighting device 114,and then sequential lighting of the first lighting device 111 and thesixth lighting device 112 b.

The sixth lighting device 112 b may be the backlight unit provided inthe vehicle terminal 108. The sixth lighting device 112 b may beprovided integrally with the second lighting device 112 a provided inthe cluster 104. When identifying the lighting devices 110 for lighting,the controller 140 may also be configured to identify the displayapparatus 160 having the backlight unit as the lighting device, and alsocontrol the lighting of the backlight unit of the identified displayapparatus 160 when executing the sequential lighting of the lightingdevices 110.

The disclosure may improve the utilization of various devices bycontrolling the lighting and lights-out of the lighting device 110provided in the display apparatus 160 as well as the lighting device 110provided in the vehicle 1 in response to data transmission andreception. The controller 140 may be configured to control thesequential lighting of the plurality of lighting devices 110 based onthe lighting algorithm stored in the storage 141 in response todetermining that there are at least two second electronic devices totransmit signals based on the analysis result.

The controller 140 may be configured to control sequential lighting ofthe plurality of lighting devices 110 in response to the capacity of thereceived signal, but may control a lighting speed. For example, when thecapacity of the received signal is greater than or equal to a referencecapacity, the controller 140 may be configured to sequentially turn onthe plurality of lighting devices 110 at a first speed. When thecapacity of the received signal is less than the reference capacity, thecontroller 140 may be configured to sequentially turn on the pluralityof lighting devices 110 at a second speed.

The controller 140 may be configured to control the sequential lightingof the plurality of lighting devices 110 in response to the speed ofsignal processing of the received signal, and adjust the lighting speedof the plurality of lighting devices 110. For example, when a signalprocessing speed is greater than or equal to a reference speed, thecontroller 140 may be configured to sequentially turn on the pluralityof lighting devices 110 at the first speed. When the signal processingspeed is less than the reference speed, the controller 140 may beconfigured to sequentially turn on the plurality of lighting devices 110at a second speed.

The user's perception of task processing may be improved and interactivelighting may be implemented by displaying the process of the taskperformed in the vehicle 1 through the lighting and lights-out of thelighting device 110. The controller 140 may be configured to controllighting with colors corresponding to transmission of signals andreception of signals, respectively, and control lighting with shapescorresponding to transmission of signals and reception of signals,respectively. The shape may include a dot shape, a linear shape, and thelike.

For example, the controller 140 may be configured to sequentially turnon the plurality of lighting devices 110 in a red-based color whentransmitting the signal, and when the signal is received, the pluralityof lighting devices 110 may be operated sequentially in a blue-basedcolor. The controller 140 may be configured to operate the plurality oflighting devices 110 to be sequentially lit in the dot shape when thesignal is transmitted, and operate the plurality of lighting devices 110to be sequentially lit in the linear shape when the signal is received.

The controller 140 may be configured to identify the lighting shapecorresponding to the type of the received signal and control sequentiallighting of the plurality of lighting devices 110 based on theidentified lighting shape. In other words, the controller 140 may beconfigured to differently control the shape corresponding to sequentiallighting of the plurality of lighting devices 110 in response toreceiving a start signal and the lighting shape corresponding tosequential lighting of the plurality of lighting devices 110 in responseto receiving a data signal. For example, when a start-on-off signal isreceived, the controller 140 may be configured to control the lightingof the next lighting device after the lighting device that is currentlylit is turned off so that the lighting shape between the lightingdevices becomes the dot shape. In response to receiving the data signal,the controller 140 may be configured to control the lighting of the nextlighting device before the lighting device that is currently lit isturned off so that the lighting shape between the lighting devicesbecomes the linear shape.

The controller 140 may be configured to control the sequential lightingof the plurality of lighting devices 110 at a speed corresponding to thestart-on signal and the start-off signal, respectively. For example, thesequential lighting speed of the plurality of lighting devices 110 maybe adjusted to the first speed when the start-on signal is receivedthrough a remote controller or a start button, and the sequentiallighting speed of the plurality of lighting devices 110 may be adjustedto the second speed when the start-on signal is received through theremote controller or the start button. In particular, the first speedmay be faster than the second speed.

The controller 140 may also be configured to control the sequentiallighting of a plurality of lamps 111 a to 111 f or 111 a to 111 lprovided in the first lighting device 111 based on the analysis result.The controller 140 may be configured to control at least one of asequential lighting direction, lighting brightness, and lighting speedof the plurality of lamps 111 a to 111 f or 111 a to 111 l provided inthe first lighting device 111 based on the analysis result. Thecontroller 140 may be configured to operate the plurality of lightingdevices 110 to blink at regular time intervals based on the analysisresult, or adjust the lighting color of the plurality of lightingdevices 110 to be changed. The controller 140 may be configured tocontrol sequential lighting of the plurality of lighting devices 110 inresponse to a driving mode or a vehicle state.

The driving mode may include an autonomous driving mode, a cruise mode,a manual mode, and a crowded driving mode, and the vehicle state mayinclude an inspection state, a failure state, a normal state, acollision caution state, and a safety state. The controller 140 may beprovided on the head unit 106, may be provided on the steering wheel107, may be provided inside the crash pad 103, or may be provided on thefirst lighting device 111.

At least one component may be added or deleted corresponding to theperformance of the components of the controller 140 illustrated in FIG.4 . It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that themutual position of the components may be changed corresponding to theperformance or structure of the vehicle 1. The controller 140 may alsobe implemented with one processor.

The controller 140 may be implemented with a memory storing an algorithmto control operation of the components in the vehicle 1 or data about aprogram that implements the algorithm, and a processor carrying out theaforementioned operation using the data stored in the memory. The memoryand the processor may be implemented in separate chips. Alternatively,the memory and the processor may be implemented in a single chip. Thestorage 141 may store identification information and positioninformation of the plurality of lighting devices 110 (111, 112, 113, and114). In particular, the position information of the plurality oflighting devices 110 (111, 112, 113, and 114) may include distanceinformation and direction information.

The distance information may be distance information to the firstlighting device 111 based on the position of the first lighting device111. The direction information may be front, rear, left, and rightdirection information based on the first lighting device 111. Thedistance information may be distance information to the steering wheel107 based on the position of the steering wheel 107. The directioninformation may be front, rear, left, and right direction informationbased on the steering wheel 107.

The storage 141 may be configured to store the lighting algorithmcorresponding to an initial transmission position of the signal, and mayalso store the lighting algorithm corresponding to a final receptionposition of the signal. Additionally, the storage 141 may be configuredto store the lighting algorithm corresponding to the initialtransmission position and the final reception position of the signal.The storage 141 may also be configured to store the lighting algorithmcorresponding to a signal type or a signal kind.

The storage 141 may also be configured to store identificationinformation of the electronic device corresponding to the signal type orsignal kind. In particular, the electronic device may be a device thatperforms the operation or function based on the received signal. Forexample, the electronic device may be the head unit 106, the vehicleterminal 108, or any one of the display apparatuses 160 provided in thevehicle 1. The storage 141 may be configured to store the positioninformation of the plurality of electronic devices provided in thevehicle 1.

The position information of the plurality of electronic devices mayinclude distance information to and from the first lighting device 111based on the position of the first lighting device 111, and may furtherinclude front, rear, left, and right direction information based on thefirst lighting device 111. The lighting algorithm may includeinformation on the lighting device to perform lighting first and thelighting device to finally perform lighting. The lighting algorithm mayinclude information regarding the lighting order and lightingmaintenance time of the plurality of lighting devices 110.

The lighting algorithm may include information regarding lightingintervals between the plurality of lighting devices 110. In particular,the lighting interval may be a difference in lighting start time betweenlighting devices in which the lighting order is adjacent, or may be atime between the lighting time of the previous lighting device and thelighting time of the current lighting device. The lighting algorithm mayinclude information regarding the lighting speed between the pluralityof lighting devices 110, and may also include information regarding thelighting color of the plurality of lighting devices 110. In addition,when the plurality of lamps are provided in one lighting device, thestorage 141 may be configured to store the position information of theplurality of lamps, and also store the lighting order of the pluralityof lamps based on the lighting algorithm.

The storage 141 may be implemented with at least one of a non-volatilememory device, such as cache, read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM(PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable ROM (EEPROM), a volatile memory device, such as randomaccess memory (RAM), or a storage medium, such as a hard disk drive(HDD) or a compact disk (CD) ROM, without being limited thereto. Thestorage 141 may be a memory implemented with a chip separate from theaforementioned processor in relation to the controller 140, or may beimplemented integrally with the processor in a single chip.

The driver 150 may turn the plurality of lighting devices 110 on or offin response to a control command of the controller 140. The driver 150may allow a current to be applied to the plurality of lighting devices110 or a voltage may be applied. The driver 150 may adjust a magnitudeof current or voltage applied to the plurality of lighting devices 110.The display apparatus 160 may be configured to display informationcorresponding to a function performed in the vehicle 1 as the image. Thedisplay apparatus 160 may be at least one of the cluster 104, the userinterface, and the vehicle terminal 108.

When the plurality of display apparatuses 160 are provided in thevehicle 1, the plurality of display apparatuses 160 may be configured todisplay different images. When the plurality of display apparatuses 160are provided in the vehicle 1, some of the plurality of displayapparatuses 160 may be configured to display the same image, and theother display apparatus 160 may be configured to display differentimages.

FIG. 8 is a control flowchart of a vehicle according to an exemplaryembodiment. The method described herein below may be executed by acontroller within the vehicle. When the communicator 130 receives thesignal (201), the vehicle 1 may be configured to analyze the receivedsignal (202) and determine the electronic device (hereinafter referredto as the first electronic device) that has transmitted the signal basedon the analysis result, and determine the electronic device (hereinafterreferred to as the second electronic device) to transmit the receivedsignal.

When analyzing the received signal, the vehicle 1 may be configured toobtain information about the signal type, the function corresponding tothe signal, and second electronic devices to transmit the signal. Inparticular, the first electronic device may be the external electronicdevice or at least one of the plurality of internal electronic devices.The second electronic device is a different device from the firstelectronic device, and may be the external electronic device or at leastone of the plurality of internal electronic devices.

The external electronic device may include at least one of a server, aninfrastructure, the user interface provided in another vehicle, aterminal provided in another vehicle, and the user terminal. The vehicle1 may be configured to identify the lighting algorithm corresponding tothe received signal among the lighting algorithms stored in the storage141 based on the analysis result (203), and control lighting of theplurality of lighting devices 110 based on the identified lightingalgorithm. In other words, the vehicle 1 may be configured to select thelighting devices to control lighting based on the lighting algorithm(204), and control the lighting of the selected plurality of lightingdevices 110 (205).

When operating lighting based on the lighting algorithm, the vehicle 1may be configured to adjust lighting start time, lighting end time, andlighting maintenance time of the plurality of lighting devices 110, andalso adjust the color and brightness of the plurality of lightingdevices 110. By adjusting the lighting start time, lighting end time,and lighting maintenance time of the plurality of lighting devices 110,the vehicle 1 may be configured to adjust the lighting speed between theplurality of lighting devices 110 and adjust the lighting shape by theplurality of lighting devices 110.

For example, when the start-on signal or the start-off signal isreceived, the vehicle 1 may be configured to control the lighting of thenext lighting device after the lighting device in the current lightingstate is turned off so that the lighting shape formed between thelighting devices becomes the dot shape. When the data signal such as acontent signal is received, the vehicle 1 may be configured to controlthe lighting of the next lighting device before the lighting device inthe current lighting state is turned off so that the lighting shapeformed by the lighting devices becomes the linear shape.

When the start-on signal is received, the vehicle 1 may be configured tocontrol the sequential lighting of the plurality of lighting devices 110and adjust the brightness to gradually increase. When the start-offsignal is received, the vehicle 1 may be configured to control thesequential lighting of the plurality of lighting devices 110 and adjustthe brightness to gradually decrease. When performing a welcome mode inresponse to the reception of the start-on signal, the vehicle 1 may beconfigured to control sequential lighting of the plurality of lightingdevices, and control to light at the first speed. When performing agood-by mode in response to the reception of the start-off signal, thevehicle 1 may be configured to control sequential lighting of theplurality of lighting devices, and control to light at a second speedslower than the first speed.

Then, the vehicle 1 may be configured to transmit the signal receivedfrom the first electronic device to the second electronic device so thatinformation corresponding to the received signal is displayed throughthe second electronic device (206). For example, when the referencelighting device is the first lighting device 111 provided on the crashpad 103, and the second electronic device is the display apparatus 160provided on the steering wheel 107, the vehicle 1 may be configured tooperate the first lighting device 111, the second lighting device 112,the third lighting device 113, and the fourth lighting device 114 to besequentially lit, and display information corresponding to besequentially turned on when the signal is received from the externalelectronic device.

When the user input corresponding to the information displayed throughthe display apparatus 160 is received, the next vehicle may beconfigured to identify the second electronic device to transmit thesignal corresponding to the received user input, identify the lightingalgorithm corresponding to the received signal, control the lighting ofthe plurality of lighting devices based on the identified lightingalgorithm, and transmit the signal corresponding to the user input tothe identified second electronic device. When the second electronicdevice is the external electronic device, the vehicle 1 may beconfigured to operate the fourth lighting device 114, the third lightingdevice 113, the second lighting device 112, and the first lightingdevice 111 to be sequentially lit, and transmit the signal correspondingto the user input to the external electronic device.

According to the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, the disclosuremay improve the user's perception of task processing and implementinteractive lighting by displaying the task processing process performedin the vehicle through lighting and lights-out of the lighting device.The disclosure may increase the utilization of various devices bycontrolling the lighting and lights-out of the lighting device providedin the vehicle as well as the lighting device provided in the displayapparatus in response to data transmission and reception. In otherwords, the disclosure may provide a new signal system in the vehicle byperforming interworking between the lighting device provided in thedisplay apparatus and the lighting device provided in the vehicle.

The disclosure may be based on the derivation of specialized items inconsideration of the service era in which AI-based autonomous drivingand connectivity mobility are strengthened. As described above, thedisclosure may improve the quality and marketability of the vehicle,further increase the user's satisfaction, improve the user's convenienceand vehicle safety, and secure the vehicle's competitiveness.

The disclosed exemplary embodiments may be implemented in the form of arecording medium storing computer-executable instructions that areexecutable by a processor. The instructions may be stored in the form ofa program code, and when executed by a processor, the instructions maygenerate a program module to perform operations of the disclosedembodiments. The recording medium may be implemented non-transitory as acomputer-readable recording medium.

The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium may include alltypes of recording media storing commands that can be interpreted by acomputer. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable recordingmedium may be, for example, ROM, RAM, a magnetic tape, a magnetic disc,flash memory, an optical data storage device, etc.

Exemplary embodiments of the disclosure have thus far been describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be obvious to aperson of ordinary skill in the art that the disclosure may be practicedin other forms than the embodiments as described above without changingthe technical idea or essential features of the disclosure. The aboveexemplary embodiments are only by way of example, and should not beinterpreted in a limited sense.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method of controlling a vehicle, comprising: analyzing, by a controller, a signal received by a communicator to identify a first electronic device that transmits the received signal and a second electronic device that will transmit the received signal; transmitting, by the controller, the received signal to the second electronic device; identifying, by the controller, a lighting algorithm corresponding to an analysis result of the received signal; and sequentially lighting, by the controller, a plurality of lighting devices based on the identified lighting algorithm.
 22. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: displaying, by the controller, information corresponding to the received signal through the second electronic device; identifying, by the controller, a signal corresponding to information received by a user input; controlling, by the controller, a transmission of the identified signal; and sequentially lighting, by the controller, the plurality of lighting devices in response to the transmission of the signal.
 23. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: adjusting, by the controller, a lighting speed of the plurality of lighting devices based on a signal processing speed of the signal received by the communicator.
 24. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: sequentially lighting, by the controller, the plurality of lighting devices at a first speed when a start-on signal is received; and sequentially lighting, by the controller, the plurality of lighting devices at a second speed slower than the first speed when a
 25. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: sequentially lighting, by the controller, the plurality of lighting devices when a start-on signal or a start-off signal is received, and turning on a next lighting device after the currently lit lighting device is turned off; and sequentially lighting, by the controller, the plurality of lighting devices when a content signal is received, and turning on the next lighting device before the currently lit lighting device is turned off. 